From Fès to Tangier – our last day in Morocco

Hello everybody, thank you again for all your comments and for nice feedback I am getting from many of you.

Today, Wednesday, July 15, was our last day in Morocco. Six hours on the bus + some sighseeing. Here are some highlights:

1. Volubilis.

The Mauritanian capital, founded in the 3rd century B.C., became an important outpost of the Roman Empire and was graced with many fine buildings. Extensive remains of these survive in the archaeological site, located in a fertile agricultural area. Volubilis was later briefly to become the capital of Idris I, founder of the Idrisid dynasty, who is buried at nearby Moulay Idris.

2. Meknès, another imperial city in Morocco. (There are four of them: Fès, Meknès, Marrakesh and Rabat)

The Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail in Meknes is the final resting place of one of Morocco’s most notorious sultans. Moulay Ismail was a member of the Alaouite Dynasty and the ruler of the country from 1672 to 1727.

3. Pastilla, a traditional Moroccan dish.

Pastilla is a traditional Moroccan dish inherited from the Andalus during the Umayyad empire. It is an elaborate meat pie traditionally made of squab (fledgling pigeons). As squabs are often hard to get, shredded chicken is more often used today; pastilla can also use fish or offal as a filling. Pastilla is generally served as a starter at the beginning of special meals.

It is a pie which combines sweet and salty flavours; a combination of crisp layers of the crêpe-like werqa dough, savory meat slow-cooked in broth and spices and shredded, and a crunchy layer of toasted and ground almonds, cinnamon, and sugar.

It was very tasty and sweet.

4. Tangier, a Moroccan port city on the Strait of Gibraltar. It has been a strategic gateway between Africa and Europe since Phoenician times.